Transport pilot shares stories of overseas missions

Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007

MADISON, S.D. (AP) - A U.S. Air Force pilot who has flown in Asia, the Middle East and Africa says some of his most important missions involved transporting injured officers during the ongoing hostilities in Iraq. Captain Josh Leibel's recent presentation to K-5 students at Madison's St. Thomas School included video slides of his work as the pilot and aircraft commander of a C-130 transport plane. Students got to see photos of medical personnel loading wounded soldiers onto transport aircraft and providing treatment during flights. Leibel says doctors can perform open-heart surgery in the hold of his C-130 Hercules while it's in the air, but most injured passengers have an uneventful ride from one medical facility to another. He says the wounded are usually stabilized by the time they're picked up.